Slavko Goldstein

The Year That Keeps Returning is Goldstein's astonishing historical memoir of that fateful year--when the Ustasha, the pro-fascist nationalists, were brought to power in Croatia by the Nazi occupiers of Yugoslavia. On April 10, when the German troops marched into Zagreb, the Croatian capital, they were greeted as liberators by the Croats. Three days later, Ante Pavelić, the future leader of the Independent State of Croatia, returned from exile in Italy and Goldstein's father, the proprietor of a leftist bookstore in Karlovac--a beautiful old city fifty miles from the capital--was arrested along with other local Serbs, communists, and Yugoslav sympathizers. Goldstein was only thirteen years old, and he would never see his father again.   More than fifty years later, Goldstein seeks to piece together the facts of his father's last days. The moving narrative threads stories of family, friends, and other ordinary people who lived through those dark times together with personal memories and an impressive depth of carefully researched historic details. The other central figure in Goldstein's heartrending tale is his mother--a strong, resourceful woman who understands how to act decisively in a time of terror in order to keep her family alive.

the year that keeps returning

1941

Ivo Goldstein

Ca. 7,000-8,000 Jews, out of 12.200 who lived in Zagreb before World War II, perished under the pro-Nazi Ustaša regime. Gives a brief history of the Holocaust in Europe. Describes pre-World War II antisemitism in Croatia, and in particular in Zagreb. The establishment of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) in April 1941 initiated a wave of anti-Jewish measures, including looting of Jewish property and eviction of Jews from their homes. At the end of May 1941 mass arrests of Jews began in Zagreb; they were interned in the camps Gospić, Koprivnica, Jasenovac (in which 4,000-4,500 Jews from Zagreb perished), and others. In the two deportations in August 1942 and May 1943, all but 800 "privileged" Jews of Zagreb were deported to death camps. Dwells on the exemption that the government made for some Jews (mainly baptized); there were some baptized Jews in the Ustaša movement, even in administrative positions. Relates ways in which Jews tried to save themselves (e.g. baptism, flight to the Italian-controlled areas, joining Tito's partisans). Criticizes Archbishop Stepinac who failed to condemn the crimes of the Ustasa regime. Argues that the main responsibility for the genocide of Croatian Jews lies on Eugen Dido Kvaternik, Ante Pavelić, and Vjekoslav Maks Luburić.

Holokaust u Zagrebu

FINALIST, 2016 National Jewish Book Award (Holocaust category) Published in association with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The Holocaust in Croatia recounts the history of the Croatian Jewish community during the Second World War, with a focus on the city of Zagreb. Ivo and Slavko Goldstein have grounded their study on extensive research in recently opened archives, additionally aided by the memories of survivors to supplement and enrich the interpretation of documents. The authors' accessible narrative, here available in English for the first time, has been praised for its objectivity (including rare humane acts by those who helped to save Jews) and is complemented by a large bibliography offering an outstanding referential source to archival materials. As such, TheHolocaust in Croatia stands as the definitive account of the Jews in Croatia, up to and including the criminal acts perpetrated by the pro-Nazi Ustasha regime, adding significantly to our knowledge of the Holocaust.

Slavko Goldstein

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